The president of Uefa, Michel Platini, has criticised Cristiano Ronaldo's £80m price tag as "excessive" and suggested that such inflated transfer fees represent a "serious challenge" for the game. Platini's comments were echoed by the British sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, who expressed concern at football losing touch with its fanbase.

"These excessive transfers are happening almost every day," said Platini. "[They] represent a serious challenge to the idea of fair play and the concept of financial balance in our competitions.

"Uefa is working hard with clubs to establish a new set of rules as soon as is possible to clean up the system and give it a more solid and more transparent base. That is our top priority."

Sutcliffe had earlier described the £80m fee as beyond the comprehension of the ordinary fan. Sutcliffe, a Salford-born United supporter, said the money offered by Real highlighted the growing gap between a few rich clubs and the rest. He added that he had already written to the governing bodies in England to ask them to address the issue.

"These are astronomical figures," he said, "and from the wider perspective this transfer, added to the one of Kaka, continues to give us cause for concern. Competitive balance is not just a UK issue now, it's a European issue especially since Florentino Pérez is bringing the galácticos back to Real Madrid.

"These figures are simply beyond the understanding of most ordinary fans. I am worried that a small group of rich clubs are getting richer and that does affect the balance and the opportunities for the wider game. It is what motivated us to write to the Premier League, FA and Football League to express our concerns about transparency and competitive balance."

He said that while the Premier League had been very successful, it was important that the balance of the game in England was not upset by the increased spending of a few clubs at the top.

"We are concerned about the sustainability of the game," he said. "They are big businesses and this type of money is around but we must make sure there is a link and that it's sustainable because we don't want to see clubs go to the wall."

"There are several issues around the management of clubs and the transparency of clubs, home-grown players and a number of things we want to see the game sustain right the way through."

"We have the most successful league in the world in the Premier League – long may that continue – but we have got to make sure that the grassroots of the game are protected and it's sustainable right through our league system."

Sutcliffe admitted that with Ronaldo wanting the transfer, Real's offer was too good for United to turn down. But he also expressed the hope that the club would continue to bring through academy players, rather than look for replacements abroad.

"As a United supporter I am disappointed to see him go because he has been a wonderful player for us but I accept it's good business for the club to sign him for £12m and sell him for £80m.

"There is not one player bigger than the club and the club comes first and that's clearly what has been decided. They have a good youth policy and we have seen many homegrown players come through the youth structure."